Absenteeism The Data and the Humanity Use data to support very human efforts Brian Sousa Administrator II - Student Data and Achievement Riverside County Office of Education Student Programs and Services Division

Case Study: Riverside County Community School School Profile Enrollment: 350 students on average Mandated by the state to provide education to areas of “gaps” Highly transient nature to enrollment Compared to the county as a whole, a notably higher percentage of the following subgroups: Hispanic African American Foster Youth English Learners Socio-economically Disadvantaged Special Education Male Cover what a service gap is

How we get our Students? 63% of students come to us by way of expulsion

Understanding our Schools: Considerations that are somewhat unique to community schools: We do not expel We seldom suspend Students are often severely credit deficient Diagnostic assessments reveal that high school age students often initially place within elementary levels for Reading and Mathematics Very high threshold of tolerance Punitive actions show little motivation for improvement We are often a last resort and continue attendance intervention beyond the SARB As a result of LCFF, districts are more inclined to keep students on the “bubble”

Flashback 2014-2015: Our attendance rate: 67.7% Analysis of the issue: Silver lining: Nowhere to go but up! Analysis of the issue: All resources going into school climate SART/SARB was non-existent for most of the year SSTs were used as the only real form of attendance intervention No sense of ownership by site staff No one was doing anything with attendance data Taking of attendance was not a priority and not enforced by site leadership

Enter 2015-2016: My first year over attendance intervention Defined goals: Develop an MTSS process that puts attendance at the root of intervention Develop a shared culture of awareness Re-imagine staff roles Make site staff and leadership accountable Use data to monitor attendance Implement Attention 2 Attendance (A2A) notification system

MTSS: Developed a model suitable for alternative education: Three areas of consideration: Attendance Socio-emotional (behavioral) Academic Three tiers of support: Universal supports (Tier I) Targeted/Small group supports (Tier II) Intensive individual support (Tier III)

MTSS (continued): Monthly collaborative meetings with all site staff Tasked with intervening at the first sign of trouble Data indicators (Attendance, gradebook scores, discipline records) When a student is brought up for discussion the following norms exist: Examine attendance trends Review report card/progress reports/gradebook detail Discuss behavior as well as any known sources that can derail attendance and studies Example – Student: John Q Teacher: John had nearly perfect attendance but has missed six days in the past two weeks. He had seven classroom disruptions recently and has not turned in any assignments in the past week. Instructional Assistant: John told me his father was released from prison recently. He told me that his father and brother have been trying to recruit him in their gang. Principal: We need to start the intervention by setting a meeting with the family. We will resort to a home visit if need be. We will offer extra time to make up assignments and explain to the family their legal obligation to get John to school. Start with data and work into the particulars

Staff Roles and Culture: Developing a shared DNA: Used the implementation of MTSS along with the integration of data into intervention discussions to push new cultural awareness Re-iterated that classroom staff is responsible for initial calls home and that the calls are to be noted in attendance notes Re-purposed the Community/Dropout Prevention Specialist (CDPs) position to focus on attendance as a primary goal and school climate as a secondary More home visits Less student breakfasts and guest speakers Tasked the CDPs with monitoring classroom calls and providing timely family interventions by phone, in school, or at the students home Provided Principals with training on how to monitor attendance and trends for individual students

Attendance by the Numbers: 11.6% growth over 2 years

A New Set of Challenges for 2017-2018: Declining enrollment has led to staff reduction CDPs have been stretched thin Realities that not all interventions yielded success CALPADS STAS data, A2A, parent portal, and dialer all need to compliment each other to continue attendance rate growth

Enter the STAS: Now have the ability to see historical attendance rates Beginning 2016-2017 New enrollees can be checked for prior year attendance records CALPADS data can help determine suitable placement Classroom-based instruction versus independent study options Knowledge of student attendance issues in the past can serve as a flag for interventions at the first sign of trouble

Summary/Sharing: We cannot perform adequate intervention if we do not monitor and use data to develop a suitable plan Technology bolsters efforts, but does not replace humans Absenteeism is everyone’s problem and a team with varied skillsets are the best bet in combatting the issue Any districts who would like to share their use of data and how it is used to increase attendance, please share so we can learn from one another

Questions? Thank you for your time Brian Sousa 951-826-6309 bsousa@rcoe.us